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We've tried several video conference solutions. Google hangout was nice for up to 10 people. Then it get really slow and the quality of the video decrease. It a

We've tried several video conference solutions. Google hangout was nice for up to 10 people. Then it get really slow and the quality of the video decrease. It also do not work in China (need a VPN). By far, the best one is Zoom. It can easily handle with a really great quality 25 people on 1 page, in a conference with 80+ people. It also works smoothly for people in China (without VPN). Anyone has any know the magic behind their tech?

stdplaceholder 8y ago
Anybody with the number can join your Zoom meeting and since there's very little indication of their presence you might not even notice. You can also command other people's rooms to join your meeting, if you can figure out how to contact them, and you can force their microphones to turn on, which in my opinion is pretty disturbing.
FajitaNachos 8y ago
Zoom doesn't use WebRTC (which the article is about). They use websockets to send media through the pipes and decode using a webgl shader or similar. I don't work for Zoom, but do work in the WebRTC space and read an article about it recently.
- edoceo 8y ago
  Gotta link for that? Sounds really neat
  - shadesof 8y ago
    https://webrtchacks.com/zoom-avoids-using-webrtc/ https://webrtchacks.com/zoom-avoids-using-webrtc/, perhaps?
    - mgamache 8y ago
      Zoom has to be using h264 under the covers. Did they recompile the OpenH264 into WASM? like: https://github.com/kazuki/mediacodec.wasm https://github.com/kazuki/mediacodec.wasm It could also be that they are using websockets to deliver MPEG-DASH/HLS segments for low latency.
petters 8y ago
GSuite customers can use Hangouts Meet, which should be better.
jcelerier 8y ago
> in a conference with 80+ people are that kind of meetings really useful by videochat ? Even in real life it's a pain.
- michaelt 8y ago
  That use case is primarily one way - think "CFO presents the latest quarterly results to employees". Like Twitch/Youtube Live, except with access control :)

stdplaceholder 8y ago

Anybody with the number can join your Zoom meeting and since there's very little indication of their presence you might not even notice. You can also command other people's rooms to join your meeting, if you can figure out how to contact them, and you can force their microphones to turn on, which in my opinion is pretty disturbing.

FajitaNachos 8y ago

Zoom doesn't use WebRTC (which the article is about). They use websockets to send media through the pipes and decode using a webgl shader or similar. I don't work for Zoom, but do work in the WebRTC space and read an article about it recently.

edoceo 8y ago
Gotta link for that? Sounds really neat
- shadesof 8y ago
  https://webrtchacks.com/zoom-avoids-using-webrtc/ https://webrtchacks.com/zoom-avoids-using-webrtc/, perhaps?
  - mgamache 8y ago
    Zoom has to be using h264 under the covers. Did they recompile the OpenH264 into WASM? like: https://github.com/kazuki/mediacodec.wasm https://github.com/kazuki/mediacodec.wasm It could also be that they are using websockets to deliver MPEG-DASH/HLS segments for low latency.

petters 8y ago

GSuite customers can use Hangouts Meet, which should be better.

jcelerier 8y ago

> in a conference with 80+ people are that kind of meetings really useful by videochat ? Even in real life it's a pain.

michaelt 8y ago
That use case is primarily one way - think "CFO presents the latest quarterly results to employees". Like Twitch/Youtube Live, except with access control :)